


clementine

by serpentheir



Series: the king of carrot flowers (riverdale childhood fics) [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Archie Andrews is a Good Friend, Bullying, Childhood Friends, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jughead Jones-centric, Protective Archie Andrews, me with every fic: i love this character! i will make them experience pain, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:20:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23879803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serpentheir/pseuds/serpentheir
Summary: the first time jughead had someone punch back for him, or, how archie and jughead met.
Relationships: Archie Andrews & Jughead Jones
Series: the king of carrot flowers (riverdale childhood fics) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1730500
Comments: 8
Kudos: 55





	clementine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [renthesagadragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/renthesagadragon/gifts).



> this is partly inspired by this result from the "which out of the 5 new and improved love languages are you?" uquiz (linked in the endnotes!):
> 
> "love to you is sitting next to /your person/, so you take out a mandarin, and as you peel it you give them every other piece. no one says a thing, but you both know what's bubbling beneath it all. you wanna protect your love, and you know that somewhere deep within you, like it's branded on your bones. you wanna be a safe house in the middle of a war. you wanna be a lit up home at the end of day, signaling to come this way. you devote yourself to everything you care for, you don't know how else to want. you give your hand as an offering, you give yourself as penance. well it's all very: i love you. i want us both to eat well."
> 
> cw for brief, pretty mild descriptions of violence (jughead gets beat up)

Jughead had been picked on countless times before; it barely even registered for him anymore. Getting punched and kicked around wasn’t quite as common, but he was still familiar enough with the usual routine to instinctively tense up and protect his face until it was over. There really wasn’t any good reason for Archie to be there in the first place – he had been over playing four-square with Reggie and Chuck like usual, but Moose was absent that day and he’d bounced over to where the other jock-y kids usually sat to see if any of them wanted to play. During recess, Jughead usually stayed off to the side of the playground; he’d rather read whichever book he was currently obsessed with than run around and get all sweaty. Today, though, he’d been specifically invited to sit with the sporty kids – he had no idea why, but he joined them, figuring his parents would be happy if he made a friend or two. 

He’d figured out why pretty quick. The bigger kids in the class must’ve been bored – bored, and entitled, and in need of a new punching bag, and Jughead happened to be the right kind of odd and antisocial that weirded other kids out enough to make them instinctively dislike him. He was used to kids trying out new insults and swear words on him during class, but he still didn’t get what had taught them to establish their popularity by beating on the weird kid. 

At that moment, a pair of size-five Skechers was laying into him like he was a soccer ball, and Jughead knew it was going to leave some bruises from hell all over his ribs. He could practically feel the blood vessels under his skin bursting in protest. He wished he could get so angry that he just exploded, too. The kid beating him up – Jughead didn’t even know the kid’s name, had barely seen his face – landed a hard kick to his stomach that left Jughead doubled over and coughing, pleading with the universe for it to end. 

And then, just as quick as it started, it stopped. There was a thud – he couldn’t see what happened, but it sounded like skin on skin – and then a louder, duller thud as a body hit the grass next to him. Jughead uncovered his face carefully, lifting one of his arms to look up, and standing above him, was a redheaded kid from his class – Archie, he remembered. He was blocking out the sun, and the way it lit up his hair made it look like he was on fire. Archie stuck out a hand to pull him up, and Jughead grabbed it, eager to get the hell out of there. He stood up and paused for a second, bracing his hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath. Jughead looked over at Archie and followed Archie’s gaze to where the kid who’d been beating on him was laid out cold on the ground. Archie was clenching and unclenching his fist, wincing a little every time he moved it. 

“Did you punch him?” Jughead asked, bewildered. 

“Yeah. Serves him right.” Archie smiled, revealing a missing front tooth. Jughead had lost the same one a few days before. 

“Oh,” he said, for lack of a better response. “Thanks.” 

“No problem. How come he was kicking you?” 

“I don’t know,” Jughead said tiredly. He shrugged. “It just happens sometimes. Hell is other people, I guess.” 

“Huh?” Archie looked at him. “What do you mean?” 

“It’s from a book,” Jughead said quietly. 

“Oh, okay,” Archie replied, as if Jughead had actually answered his question. Archie bent down and picked something up off the ground before handing it to Jughead. “This is your hat, right?” 

Jughead took it from him carefully and shook the dirt off before pulling it over his head. 

“Yeah. Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome.” They stood there in silence for a minute or two before Archie asked, “You don’t say much, huh?” 

“I guess not,” Jughead replied. Not like he had anyone to say much to. 

“That’s okay. My name is Archie.” He stuck out his good hand. Jughead shook it, still confused by everything that had just happened. 

“I’m Jughead.” 

“Cool.” To Jughead’s relief, Archie didn’t even blink at the weird name. 

When their teacher called them back inside for lunch, she saw Jughead’s face and demanded to know what had happened. Jughead would’ve stayed quiet, but Archie told her everything, and she sent the kid who’d kicked Jughead to the nurse’s office and told Jughead and Archie to go to the principal’s office. The secretary glared at them when they walked in. 

“Fighting?” she asked, more of a statement than a question. 

“Yeah, I guess,” Archie said, and plopped down in one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting area. 

Jughead sat down next to him, and they waited silently for the principal to call them in. Jughead hoped they’d just get in trouble and then get to go back to class, because he didn’t know if anyone could come pick him up if he had to go home early. Archie seemed weirdly calm, just kicking his legs back and forth. Calm enough, apparently, to open up his lunchbox and start eating. It was kind of funny, actually, watching him peel an orange after he'd knocked someone out cold twenty minutes earlier with the same hand. Jughead watched him absentmindedly, trying to ignore the aching pain in his chest. 

Archie broke the orange in two and held out half to Jughead. 

“Want an orange?” 

“Okay.” Jughead took it from him, and they ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes, until the principal opened his door and asked them to come in. 

Luckily, they didn’t get suspended, but they were asked to go home for the rest of the day. 

“Maybe get some ice for that, too,” the principal had said, grimacing at the bruises starting to form on Jughead’s arms and the sneaker prints still visible on his chest. “Or a doctor.” 

The nurse watched as Jughead called the home phone, but sure enough, neither parent was home, and he had to tell her that _no,_ he didn’t know where else he could reach them. Archie called his dad after that, and without any input from Jughead, asked if his dad could give Jughead a ride. The nurse seemed relieved to pass him off onto someone else – this wasn’t the first time she’d had to handle Jughead’s _social_ _difficulties_ – and so Jughead got in the car with Archie’s dad, who seemed like a weirdly normal but overall guy. Jughead offered to walk home from wherever their house was, but Archie’s dad insisted on dropping him off at home so he wouldn’t have to walk “in his condition”. 

“Where do you live? It can’t be that far. Really, it’s not a problem.” 

Jughead recited his address. Archie’s dad looked up at him in the rear-view mirror. 

“What’d you say your last name was?” Archie’s dad’s voice was just as cheerful as before, but something in his eyes looked different. 

“Um, Jones.” 

“Got it. Well, you’re practically right down the street, then.” Nudging Archie, he added: “Maybe you can invite him over sometime. Get to know some of the other kids in the neighborhood.” 

Archie smiled the same wide, gap-toothed smile. 

“Cool! Wanna come over right now?” 

Archie’s dad cut in. “Looks like you might need some ice or something for those bruises, Jughead. Is there someone at home who can help you with that?” 

_I can get an ice pack by myself,_ Jughead thought, but, admittedly, the thought of having an adult there to make sure he was okay made him less nervous about his injuries. 

“Um. Not right now. My parents are at work.” 

Archie’s dad kept looking straight ahead at the road, his expression carefully blank. 

“Do you want to stop in for a little bit, then? Just until your folks get home?” 

“Okay,” Jughead said simply. “Do you have mac ‘n cheese? I’m kinda hungry.” 

“Sweet, I love mac ‘n cheese,” Archie said. “Dad, can we make it?” 

Archie’s dad laughed. “Sure, kiddo.” 

**Author's Note:**

> for context, i'm imagining that fp and fred had lost touch/stopped talking several years before this takes place -- although the joneses still lived down the street, fred hadn't met jughead until this point. jughead just, like, doesn't go outside that much so he and archie haven't interacted, idk lol
> 
> new love languages quiz (not mine): https://uquiz.com/quiz/n2eCsq/which-out-of-the-5-new-and-improved-love-languages-are-you?p=293864
> 
> kudos and comments are much appreciated! <3 i'm on tumblr at @jugheadsucks!


End file.
